Apparatus for separating solution from a mixture of solution and ice crystals



July 20, 1943. E. OMAN APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING summon mom A MIXTURE OF SOLUTION AND ICE CRYSTALS Filed Jan. 9, 1939 m mm OOOOQOOOOO OOOOOOOoo OOOOOOOOOQ Patented July 20, 1943 UNITED STAT APPARATUS ron SEPARATI'NG SOLUTION 7 FROM A MIXTURE or SOLUTION AND ICE CRYSTALS Erik fiman, Stocksund, Sweden Application January 9, 1939, Serial No. 250,028 In Sweden January 14, 1938 2 Claims.

The present invention pertains to a method of and an apparatus for the separation of solution from a mixture of solution and ice or snow crystals formed by freezing water out of a soluticn of a substance in water. In such freezing out, the mixture of solution and ice or snow crystals is obtained inthe form of an ice sludge,

and the object of the invention is-to separate the concentrated solution from the ice or snow crystals in an efiicient and cheap manner, without the soluticns becoming diluted to any appreciable extent.

The method according to the invention is essentially characterized by the fact that the mixture in the form of a continuous column or bar is compressed through the influence of an intermittently applied pressure so as to be positively advanced and. washed-during its advance, the escaping liquid being removed and the ice col umn or bar being intermittently supplemented 'by the supply of portions of further quantities of mixture. As washing liquid one uses a solution of a concentration varying between the concentration of the mother liquor accompanying the crystals and pure water. The washing may be effected with a solution of a difierent concentration at different points in the longitudinal direction of the ice bar. The bar isadvanced intermittently and during its advance it is subjected to a compression in order to obtain a rapid separation of solution. During this intermittent advance the bar is supplemented by the supply of portions of further quantities of ice sludge.

To facilitate the separationof the solution, such separation may be effected through suction.

The device for carrying the above described method into effect comprises a channel with a perforated bottom and having a device; for the supply of mixture at one end thereof, the intake end which is provided with a roof; and also a member, e. gfa transverse piston adapted to close the channel, said member being displaceable' to and fro in-the longitudinal direction of the channel, means for supplying the washing liquid, for instance spray nozzles, being provided in the upper part of the channel. The ice sludge is thus supplied at one end of the channel, the

ice, relieved of solution entirely or in part, then escaping at the other end of the channel. Prefcrably the perforations in the bottom .of the channel have a smaller area of passage at the intake end of the channel than along the main portion thereof. Tofacilitate the separation of solution, one or both of the longitudinal si'de'sjof the channel may also be perforated.

The invention will be described more closely with reference to the accompanying drawing, which by way of example illustratesapparatus for carrying the invention into effect, and in connection with which other features characteristic of the invention will also be set forth.

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section, on the line 1-1.

of Fig. 2, through one embodiment of an apparatus according-to the invention. Fig.2 is asec- .tion on line IIII in Fig. 1. Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 6' represent sections of different embodiments of bottom ribs. Fig. '7 is an elevation, partly in section, of another embodiment, Fig. 8 represents amodified arrangement for carrying the method according to the invention into eiTect, Fig. 9 is a plan view of one form of bottom for supporting the ice bar in the channel, and Fig. 10 is a plan horizontal perforated bottom l2 and side walls [4. In the intake endv of the channel there is provided a supply means for ice sludge in the form of a hopper 16. From the intake end of r the channel, the latter may first have a constant cross section which then diminishes in the vertical direction. roof l8, at least for a portion of its length from the charging end. I e

The ice sludge is advanced through the channel by means of any; suitable contrivance, solu tion then escaping through the perforations in the bottom of the channel, which perforations may consist of openingsofvarious kinds. To facilitate the separation of solution, perforations may also be arranged in the sides of the channel, at least, at the intake end thereof, as shown at 20. According as solution is being separated out of the ice sludge, the-latter is caused to form an ice bar of ever increasing rigidness, which ice'bar is being advanced along the bottom of the channel. The bottom perforations may;hav e a smaller passage area at the intakeend, where the ice sludge is still comparatively loose, than along the main portion of the channel, and the size of the perforations may vary according to the size of the ice crystals, the viscosity of the solution and other factors. a l 7 To lessen the friction of. the ice bar against the bottom I2, and thus to facilitate the conveyance thereof through the channel, the bottom 12 is preferably formed of bars or ribs of some suitable material, for instance wood or metal, such as iron or brass, said bars being arranged The channel is provided with a forward stroke of the piston 30 from slipping down from the end face of the ice bar when the piston 30 is retracted, the latter is preferablymade forwardly slanting when viewed in-the direction of advancement. According as the ice bar is advanced and washed by means of liquid supplied through the spraying pipes 22, the same is subjected to a reduction of its volume. In order then to prevent the formation'of cracks in the side walls [4, the latter are preferably made slanting outwardly,the ice bar then diminishing more and more in the vertical direction only while the wedge shape thereof is being maintained.

To make it possible to control the pressure, by which the ice bar is compressed and advanced, it may be found suitable to provide the channel with one or more braking membersadaptedto engage the bar. It has been established by trials that the pressure on the ice bar should be kept within the limits 0.02 and 1.5, preferably between 0.05 and 0.8 kilogram per square centimetre, a common rule being: the higher the concentration of the solution, the higher the pressure. ranged a shaft 50 mounted in brackets 52 secured on the side walls M for the control of the pressure in the rear part of the channel, said shaft having a plurality of arms 54 secured thereon, which are formed at their outer ends into claws B or similar scraping members. The pressure of the claws 56 on the ice bar may be altered by means of weights 58 adapted to be displaced along the arms.

The removal of the ice from the channel may be facilitated by means of a device arranged at the discharge end of the channel, said device consisting, according to the drawing, of a number of scrapers 60 secured on a rotating shaft 62 mounted in the side walls [4.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 7, the pressing piston represented in Fig. 1 is arranged to be operated hydraulically. To this end, there is arranged a piston 82 movable within a cylinder 80 and having the piston rod secured thereto. Fluid under pressure, from a suitable source, not shown, for operating the pistonBZ is supplied through the conduit 8|,which is branched over a reversing valve 83 into conduits 84 and 8B controlled by'valves 85 and 81 respectively, said conduits opening into the spaces on both sides of the piston 82. The fluid under pressure escapes through conduits 88 and 50, which are controlled by a common reversing valve 9i. The valves 85 and 81 are adjustable severally, so that the speed of the piston 82 in both directions may be controlled, it being desirable that the movement of the piston 82 in a direction toward advancement and compression of the'ice bar take place comparatively slowly, whereas its'movement in the opposite direction should t akeplace as rapidly as possible. Consequently, the valve 85 should thus be adjusted for a restriction greater than that of the valve 81. The reversing valves 83, 91 may be adjusted manually, or, they may be arranged tobe shifted automatically in a manner known per se. 3

' Fig. 7 also illustrates'an automatic arrangement for the braking of the ice bar, the braking members or claws 56 being under 'the control of the fluid actuating the pressure piston 82. To this end, there is arranged-a cylinder 92 with a piston 94 below the arms '54,'the piston'rod 96 of saidpiston being arra'nged to'cooperate with the arms 54 to raise the claws 58 out of engage- In the embodiment shown, there is arment with the ice bar. A spring 91 tends to move the piston downwardly. The space beneath the piston communicates, through a conduit 98, with that space of the pressure cylinder where the pressure causes the inward movement of the piston 82 and the pressing piston 30. When the pressure is then caused to reach a certain value, for instance shortly after the pressing piston 30 has closed the intake opening 36, such pressure overcomes the power of the spring 91, the piston 84 being then forced upwardly and the piston 96 raising the claws 56 out of engagement with the ice bar into the position shown in Fig. 7. 5

In all of the embodiments hitherto described,

the'bottom of the channel is rigid, the same being formed, for instance, of longitudinal ribs separated from one another by intervening spaces. It has been found that difficulties may'sometimes present themselves in connection with the advancement of the ice bar by means of the reciprocating piston for the reason that, in order to provide for effective washing, the channel must be of a comparatively great length, 5 to .15 metres, very high pressures of the piston being required to advance an ice bar'of this length by means of the piston, which pressures, in turn, necessitate powerful driving means while also causing the ice bar to become so hardly compressed, that the perviousness of the same is reduced, so that the washing effect per unit of length will be impaired. e

To provide a remedy for these inconveniences inherent in the'embodiments hitherto described, the bottom of the channel may be made movable for the whole or a portion of its length according to the form of embodiment disclosed in Fig. 8. By this arrangement the friction of the ice bar against the bottom of the channel is reduced, so that the piston pressure may be kept within reasonable limits, for instance betweenOl and 0.3 or somewhat above 0.3 kilogram per square centimetre.

According to this latter-construction, the bottom of thechannel, extending from the intake end thereof,preferably consists of a rigid portion and beyond the same is a movable portion, the latter being preferably constituted by freely rotatable members disposed transversely of the channel, such members consisting, for instance, of freely rotating rollers carrying one or more belts running thereabout'."

According to Fig. 8, the bottom of the channel I0, regarded from the intake end thereof, consists of a rigid front portion !2 and a movable rear portion I2 The rigid portion H2 may, as in the previously described embodiments, consist of a grate of longitudinal spaced iron bars, for example, while the movable portion may be constituted by "one or more endless belts H10 running over two rollers .12, arranged crosswise of the channel, and guided by guide rollers I04, which are likewise arranged transversely of the channel. The belt or belts, which may be perforated, may be of such a width that only a portion of the width of the bottom is covered thereby, for instance in a manner such that'a plurality of belts running in parallel are 'ar-' ranged with spaces therebetween. By this arrangement, a readily efiected escape of the solution will be obtained.

The ice bar is' advanced by the piston 38 as hereinbefore described, preferably in. the manner beinz then advanced on the movable bottom nor.- tion 12 without any sliding movement thereon The resistance to the 'advamernent to be overcome by the hydraulic driving means 81!, 82 is thus made up by the sliding friction against the rigid bottom 42 and the railing friction the rolling track 12 so that the mssure which is required to be exerted by the wiston ill will be considerably kss tlum if the whole bottom were rigid. The rigid bottom portion may constitute V2 to 1 s and the movable bottom portion thus /2 to T86 of the eneth of the channel. Spraying nines 22 .for the supply of washing liquid, generally water, are preferably 8178388!!! both over he rial-d and the movable bottom portions.

To bring about a solid surface on the ice bar, particularly the lower side thereof, there may be provid d some uitable device within the channel for the flattening or compression of the bar. Accoming to the m odiment shown, a plate or up Hi6 or the like extending in the transverse dlrectlon of the bottom is arranged between the i d p n d e movable por ion of the channel, said P ate. an acu e angle with he t m. count d in direct on of WWW" lnellt. By this arran ement the sliding of the ice bar onto the bottom portion is incilitated. The plate may extend over the whole width of the bottom, Mb plate; may be arranged only over a portion ,0; the width of the bottom, for instance at the @6868 8 the abannel. It may also be found illitfible to effect such flatte ing or jamming e! the upper portion of the ice bar as well, for lnstancfi along the Mr lateral edges thereof, whereby any fissures {armed in the b r will be closed for the benefit of eflicient washing.

Instead of being freely movable, the movable portion or roller track 12 may be driven positively. By reason of the intermittent feeding of the ice bar by means of the piston 30, and particularly in consequence of the fact that the distance of advancement is not constant for every piston stro e, but is dependent on the uantity of ice mixture supplied, the driving means for the movable portion must then npemte intermih teutly and under the control of the feeding, as otherwise the risk is incurred that the toe bar might break, whioh would entail tnefilolen't washing. In most cases, however, it is preferred to have the movable portion froely movable.

The invention is applicable in all such cases Where the separation of solution .fnom snow or ice crystals formed by freezi out of the some is considered. For ex mple, the may be applied in producing salt out of sea-Walter, in the concentration of su-lplu'te waste lye to separate solid substances therefrom, and so forth.

The invention is of course not limited to the embodiments disclosed in the drawing, but may be subjected to modifications in many respects, without the scope of the invention ex- Beaded thereby. For the dlsplnoement of the pressing piston, every other known mmtrivance may of course be brought into use, such as a crank movement. Also, the movable bottom nortion of the channel disclosed in the last described embodiment may, for instanoe, consist of rollers only, which should then be arranged in close propinquity to each other. In place of bolts it is of course possible to employ chains or other endless elements.

It is obvious that the is not to the embod men s h wn th d awing since hese may be rmdlfied in several respects with, out dep r ing iro t e c pe o he invent n For the di pla ement of the p ssin pist n ny other known suitable de i e may e us d. for instance a crank vi bo om of the osp ratus may be incl ne with respect to the horiz ntal plane. The in lination, how e must not be so pronounced as to cguse the ice ba to move through the appa atus so e y by its own we h The te hnical eifect obtained .by the invention i l be more f l xp ained in the follow Ioe slud e h greater capacity o ab o b o ution than have salt crystals. This physical: p ops y of the ic s udge is the ause f a plura y of n nveniences which do no ex st with re p o salt c ystals, Those inconveni nces wh ch r m nated ac o ding o the orescnt inventi n. s follows (a), Without a s ecial compression it is dint cult to recover a solution from an ice sludge and n y a e t is considerably more difilcult than to recover solution from salt crystals,

(13) When recovering solution from ice sludge by washing with a more diluted solut on the volume of the ice mass shrinks very considerably. This is du to the fac that the Quan ity o olotion which is absorbed by ice crys greater, the higher the concentration of the solution. Consequently, apowerful shrinking place when washing such ice s udge f a ompression is not vsirnultrrnetmsly affected wh h mmession brings about the formation of sures. Such formation of fissures must be avoided, ince otherwise no washing can be e fect d without considerable manual work. For this reason the washing of the ice sludge takes place while simultaneously mpressin the same.

Th s compression mustbcwwer, in order to remove the solution as far as Di isible, be effected by compressing the toe in rather thin layers. The final result is that the host s flutkm or" this nroblem is to compress the sludge in rather hin layers and s multano mly to advance the ice bar continu us y by a press re vatpn -i ol above described In summ n us, the eile t resides in the f c t at, in ontradistinction to prior methods. the solution is press d oil before washin is fiected. By m ressing according to the prese t in i n, the material will be acted on during the compression in relatively thin layers whereby the greatest possible pressing out is obtained. 7

To advances bar of crystals, for instance salts, continuously, in various ways, and to wash the crystal bar during this advancement was pre yilmsly known. However, combining the wash? ing with pressure in the manner described is entirely novel.

What I claim is:

1, Apparatus for separating solution from a mixture of solution and ice or snow crystals produoed by freezing water out of a. solution of a substance in water, comprising a substantially horizontal channel having a Dortomted bottom, the perforations having a. smaller passage area at the intake end of the channel than along the main portion thereof, means for supplying a, mixture of solution and ice or snow crystals ,at the intake end of said channel, means for intermittently wnin pressure to the mixture to compress the same to form a continuous bar of ice and oosi-tlnehr to advance the bar longitudie il? th nush he mural. ms for supplying washing liquid for passage of the same transversely through the bar at substantially right angles thereto during its advancement and means for removing the escaping solution.

2. Apparatus for separating solution from a mixture of solution and ice or snow crystals produced by freezing water out of a solution of a substance in water, comprising a substantially horizontal channel having a bottom formed by longitudinal spaced bars or ribs, the spaces between said bars or ribs being narrower at the intake end than along the main portion of the 

